Determine task order with prerequisites
Company: Adobe
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: Medium
Interview Round: Technical Screen
You are given n tasks labeled 0..n−1 and a list of prerequisite pairs (a, b) meaning task b must be completed before task a. Determine one valid order in which to complete all tasks, or report that it is impossible if dependencies contain a cycle. Describe the algorithm, data structures, and complexity, and explain how you would detect cycles and handle multiple valid orders.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's proficiency with graph-theoretic concepts like dependency modeling and cycle detection, and their ability to produce valid task orderings under constraints within the Coding & Algorithms domain.